It's not why, it's who.

[Jennie Docherty / Djinnie!]

Tourists stand on both sides of the cobblestone walkway. The center frame is of the Schwerin Castle in northern Germany, and the opening shot is nothing short of majestic. Amongst the crowd, though, we find two familiar faces in the vicinity. Jennie Fenix leaning against the stone barricade, and Amber Vogel stands just a couple of paces behind her and is holding up her phone to snap a picture of the castle, and ensuring that she gets a shot of the cobblestone walkway before she finally takes a step back to take in the beauty with her own eyes.

“Are you just insisting that I see the sights so you can find a location for your wedding?” Amber asks.

Jennie doesn’t reply.

Amber purses her lips together, waiting for a couple more seconds until she turns to see Jennie…Jennie seems to be lost in her own mind until Amber finally shouts out a second time to gain her attention, “Everything okay there?!” Amber asks, projecting her voice louder than was necessary, and Jennie suddenly snaps back to attention.

“Yes! Yeah! What happened?!” Jennie asks while straightening her posture.

Throwing herself against the barricade, Amber smiles whilst looking toward who had become a close and personal friend to her, “You told me I needed to get out more, and then you’re not even paying attention to the places we’re going… Is everything alright?” Amber asks with concern in her tone.

“Umm– yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?” Jennie answers, trying to brush it all off.

“Could be the spaced out look on your face…” Amber answers sarcastically, and imitates an explosion with her hand, “Just a thought.”

“Fine, fine,” Jennie grumbles. She turns her back to the barricade, and leans against it, “It’s just the match I have this week– I can’t help but wonder what the eff it’s all about!” Jennie growls under her breath as she can’t seem to figure it out.

“I mean, there’s really nothing you can do about it, right?” Amber asks.

“It’s not that, it’s not that! It’s who it is. Like–” Jennie shrugs subtly, “Why her? Why Brandy? That Wyrmtongue fella, he knows–”

“Knows what?” Amber interjects.

Jennie stops talking for a moment and ponders her next words, crafting them perfectly before continuing, “He knows how to drive a wedge between our family, and that’s what he’s tryin’ to do!”

“You need to talk to Sabe… Maybe he knows something about it?” Amber suggests.

“You know– you’re right…” Jennie says. Amber starts to recollect herself, and is seemingly ready to go before Jennie hops to her feet, “BUT WAIT!” Jennie says, “You have a promo, and what better place than– RIGHT HERE?!”

“Are you sure?” Amber seems a little more nervous about it than Jennie, as she starts looking around at all of the tourists…a couple have taken notice as to who the IWF Women’s World Champion is, although she did a fair job at remaining incognito. Jennie waves off the tourists, paying them no mind.

“Yes, yes, I’m absolutely sure! You’ll be fine! You got this!”

Amber hops up and down several times while shaking her arms; an attempt to get the blood flowing, as well as hype herself up as she readies herself for the promo…Jennie stands across from her with the phone in hand and is giving a visual countdown, and the moment the countdown begins, Amber fixes her hair really quick, placing her cap on backwards.

Deep breath.

Three.

Two.

One.

[Continued in Amber Vogel’s RP.]

---

Berlin, Germany.

...Later that night...

The exemplary suite in the Rocco Forte Hotel De Rome had been the host for the famous Docherty family. The head of the table, Tara Diosa Docherty-Jimenez, frequently handled all of the travel arrangements for the household…there were times that Sabin would find himself in a separate hotel room that he would take with his girlfriend – the very same woman who happened to be the challenger for his aunt’s championship this Tuesday – and times that he would stay with his family…his blood. The same rules applied for Jennie; there were times that she would stay with her fiancé, and times that she would take up residence with her family.

Tara sat calmly in the living center of the suite, raising her granddaughter, Mikaela Jade over her head as she giggled uncontrollably. Lilith grabs at her knee for a turn to be lifted in the similar fashion…the boys, Edward and Damien, sit in a corner of the room, each one playing on their separate Nintendo Switch consoles. The interior was a perfect resemblance of a happy family, a family that knew that when no one else would – they would have each other’s backs. A family that knew that no matter what they did, the target only became larger…the number of enemies growing to take them down a peg, and make them believe they were no longer the dynasty that ruled with an iron fist, but rather – peasants… An industry, a company, that was determined to drag them down.

Outside sang a much different tune, though… Cracks couldn’t help but be shown because of what was going to transpire this week.

The IWF Women’s World Champion, Jennie Aurora Docherty – Jennie Fenix – stands on the balcony, heaving in a desperate attempt to catch her breath whilst her nephew, the man of many names, who she only knew as Sabin leans against the railing on the stone balcony. He finds himself unable to make eye contact with his aunt, knowing full well how protective he had been of her and of his mother throughout his time in the industry, but he was caught in a bit of a predicament of his own when it had come to their attention that Brandy Cvetkova, better known as The Black Widow, would be challenging Jennie for the world championship at Odyssey this week.

Her voice shakes, but Jennie continues, “Are you really gonna say that you had nothing to do with this?”

“Tláak’w–” Sabin hesitates momentarily, and sighs before continuing, “I– why are you scared to–”

You can see the fire in her eyes as Jennie widens her eyes, locking her gaze on her nephew, “EXCUSE ME?”

Gritting his teeth, Sabin attempts to divert his words, “I just mean– you’ve said before that you want to be a fighting champion… Y’know? This is who that idiot ginger decided you should fight–”

“What makes you think it was Cliff?!” Jennie snaps back.

“The ginger, the other idiot,” Sabin answers while hitting his hand against the railing in frustration, “I don’t care who it was that booked it! The statement still stands: you want to be a fighting champion, so why is it that you seem so unsure about fighting Brandy?!”

The question lingers as Jennie continues to stand there; while her gaze remains locked on her nephew, she is clearly staring past him…she becomes lost in thought whilst considering the question, and just then – the scenery shifts… we shift away from the balcony, and to the rooftop…Jennie sits atop the edge, and looks over her shoulder while the lights throughout Berlin seem to still keep the city to life. Neon lights shine up from the ground level that would lead people to the various nightclubs in the center of Berlin.

The championship glimmers from around her waist, and Jennie turns her head toward the camera…her expression seems rather…empty…compared to her usual demeanor. She draws in a deep breath before she begins her speech for her promo, pushing herself slightly forward, and her voice creeps out from behind her lips with what is almost a sense of superiority.

“Y’know, it seems that no matter what I do – I was never good enough, and then when I did reach the top…now, everyone seems ready to drag me down for every word that comes out of my mouth.” She grumbles under her breath.

“It seems that… no matter what I do – I’m the one that’s wrong. I get – condemned… for just wanting to become – better. I get condemned at every turn! Like – when I see a young girl… a new girl… win the Iron Maiden, and all I want to do is congratulate her, all I want to do is look her in the eyes… look in the eyes of who is coming after my championship, and welcome her challenge. I’m the one that’s wrong.” She scoffs.

Pursing her lips together, she can’t stop herself from subtly shaking her head while silence follows for several seconds to let the fact remain as the center of focus for the short duration, and she adjusts herself in her seat slightly before resuming, “I hear people say that because I’m not coming out to the show each and every week, that I’m not a defending champion! I hear people say that I hide, and all I have to ask you is: where am I hiding? I’m not a hard person to find, you can find me on Twitter where you can hate on me for showing off my body–” she puffs up her chest a little bit, and shrugs, “–you can find me in the back… each and every week. Ever since I won the championship at Metamorphosis, I have defended the title at High Stakes, and I’m set to defend it at Night of the Immortals… but that’s not enough, is it? I mean, really…” she flashes a weak smile, her gaze faltering away from the camera.

“It’s not enough. The only thing I’ve ever wanted to be was a fighting champion, so no – defending the title once every other month is not enough for me, but it doesn’t mean that I’m hiding! I see the competition out there… I see the way our division is getting stronger everyday with new people coming through those doors, ready to put their name on the map! I see Kasey Vex, forcing her opponents to tap out. I see Shea O’Hara, despite having beaten her already, still standing tall…shaking off that rust, and getting back into the ring. I see Serenity Holmes facing everyone that comes her way, and even when she doesn’t walk out with her arm raised, she’s still got everyone talking about her, and that’s what matters, right? That’s what we all want, right? We want people talking about us. I see Charlotte Shimizu making a name for herself and earning her chance to challenge for the title at Night of the Immortals this year, but I also see–” Jennie wags a single finger at the camera, “–one person that is flying under the radar…”

What was expressionless, and a different demeanor from Jennie than the audience generally knows of her becomes a bit more…pleased…the corners of her lips curl into a grin, and she cocks her head to the side, while reaching a hand up to brush her hair back behind her shoulder, “I see The Black Widow. Y’see, she’s someone who just… she knows when to strike! She knows when to lay low, and all the while, you can see that she is capable of so much more! Now, I know that I have found myself in a wee bit of a situation by being put into this match, and…honestly… it’s one that I didn’t expect. This close to Night of the Immortals, I didn’t think I was gonna get another chance to defend my title! But this is her chance to shake things up. This is her chance to take this title away from me, and walk onto the grandest stage of them all…and defend…this title–” she taps her knuckles against the plate, “–on the grandest stage of them all.”

She takes a moment to ponder the thought that she could be defeated this week… this close to the biggest event of the year, where Jennie would be walking in, for the second year in a row, as the defending IWF Women’s World Champion, and hopes of having a different outcome from what had transpired one year prior.

“Brandy– The Black Widow– trust me when I say that while all of you argue amongst each other, she’s one that I know has what it takes to bring the absolute best out of me, and while I’m going to go ahead and praise her, and praise her dedication to try to make a name for herself… The lengths that she is willing to go through in order to be on this level, that’s part of what makes her more dangerous. I know– I know that there is nothing she won’t do! And while I do respect her dedication to the craft, I’m going to say…I am not losing my title. Not this week, not at Night of the Immortals, not at Bloody Assizes, not at Legacy, not at Survival of the Fittest, not at Diamonds Are Forever, and not at Metamorphosis! This is another chance, another opportunity, for me to show all of you that while you bicker amongst each other who is better…whether it’s East Wind, whether it’s Shea, whether it’s The Murder, there is only one person in the locker room who can really say that she is the best!”

Jennie takes the title from around her waist, and stands up from her seat – she takes a step forward, and hoists the title high, “AND THAT’S ME!” She lowers the championship, but holds it firmly, “I earned the right to call myself the world champion, I earned the right to walk to the grand stage as the defending champion! I SET THE BAR! I am the one that you should all be worrying about! I am the one whose name you should be dropping! And this Tuesday, I prove it… this Tuesday, I defend my title on Odyssey, and this is only the beginning…that locker room is getting packed, and in time, I’ll face each and every single one of you. And whenever that bell rings, you’re going to know that I’m the best.”

She places the championship against her shoulder and wrinkles her nose before walking forward and planting a kiss on the camera, “Ciao, bitches!”

As her footsteps are heard receding from the camera, the scenery fades back to the balcony where she stands with Sabin, and she finally answers his question after what truly was only a couple of seconds that passed in this timeframe, “I’m not scared of fighting Brandy, Sabin, I’m just wondering– why? How did this come up? What’re you planning with this?!”

“Why are you still accusing me?” Sabin asks, his own voice breaking, as he places his hands on his shoulders and stares into the eyes of his aunt…Jennie had known Sabin since he was four-years-old, and she was only thirteen, and he had always looked up to her; she had always been his protector when Tara couldn’t be, she had always been the one to sit and hang out with him in the locker room when Tara was competing…and now…both of them had become stars in their own right.

“I–” Sabin smirks, “I do have some pull on Randon. I know this, and he told us that he had a plan this week… but I had no idea that he was going to book something like this. But…” Sabin takes a step back, “You’re you! You’re the world champion! You’re the fighting champion! Frankly, I’m sick of these people… I’m sick of them twisting our words, I’m sick of them blaming us because we’re that much fucking better than they are, and I’m just–” he growls under his breath, “I’m sick of all of it.”

Jennie’s eyes soften a little bit, and she can’t help but show a little concern, “Sabe–” her eyes linger on him for a moment.

She knew just as well as everybody else the actions that Savage Kingdom had been known for the last couple of weeks. There was no denying that they had made their mark on the company, and in the industry, but they were not exactly fair. She knew as much as everybody else that there was a high chance that Stephen, Portia, or even Sabin could end up involved in the match and attempt to snatch the championship away from her in order to put it amongst the ranks of the Savage Kingdom.

“I need you to promise me that you’re going to stay out of this, okay? I need you to promise that you– you understand that this match is between me and her. Let it stay between me and her. Okay?” Jennie pleads.

Sabin licks his lips and sighs, “I promise that I will not lay a hand to harm you.”

END.